After only a half season, my Diamond Backwater 3-piece, 9' 9-wght Rod broke this past Saturday while fishing Sandy Neck. Not landing a fish or casting a Clouser, but simply false casting. The rod 'shattered' right in the middle of the upper third piece, not near the ferrel, but just above the 4th guide from the top. I saw no sign of scratch or ding at or near the break point.

I have an email into DiamondBack asking what I need to do to get a replacement. Has anybody had any experience with Diamondback as far as getting a replacement? Can a local dealer such a Blue Northern help me out and/or speed things up? Any help/advice/information will be greatly appreciated.

D'OH, D'OH, D'OH, D'OH, D'OH, D'OH, Now I know how Roop felt that night on The Race with his St. Croix!!!!!!

JohnM

06-26-2000, 10:41 AM

Greg:

I have had to send a Diamondback Rod back a few times due to breakage. Traditionally, they will only honor the warranty by sending it back to Vermont. You could still try the place where you bought it to see if they could do anything, but I think that will be a long shot. I would call Diamondback at 1-800-626-2970 and ask what time frames they would be looking at. By the way, they are now owned by Cortland.........

Good luck !
John

grego

06-26-2000, 04:46 PM

John,

Thanks for the info. It looks like I'm going to have to send it in. The lady said that they would probably just replace the top third of the rod. Now with the top third coming from a different blank, could this affect the rod action, or are they all basically indentical?

GregO.

JohnM

06-26-2000, 05:35 PM

Greg:

Great question........here is my belief, although I am no expert on rods. My feeling is that the action is a combination of the material(type and thickness) and the taper. In the times I have sent rods back because they where broken, I have never seen or felt a difference in the action. I would suspect that they should be able to match the action and everything else preety darn close to exact........

Does anyone have some knowledge about the rod design and construction to respond ???

Thanks
John

BobD

06-27-2000, 07:31 AM

I guess it depends on the rod and manufacturer. I know that companys like Scott and Winston serialize each rod and each section of the rod. They also messure the flex of each section and record that info. Should they get a broken rod returned, they can then match the flex of the new section to the rod.

The taper and flex of a particular rod is determined by the mandrel, in addition to the graphite and resins used. Designing and maintaining mandrels is the highest cost item for manufactures. Flex is also determined by where on the mandrel they start rolling the graphite.

Greg should feel no difference in the new sections of his rod when returned from Diamondback.

Greg:
You will get a much faster and cost effective return if you ship it yourself. Although I will be happy to help you out anyway I can.

juro

06-27-2000, 08:53 AM

Greg -

I've been very lucky. Out of all the fly rods I've owned since I was a youngster I've only broken four. All were the fault of the user (me or client with clouser). When you consider the amount of use they have gotten over the years, that's a pretty good statement of the quality rod manufacturers put forward.

First was a Loomis IMX, I hit a branch on a roll cast. They promptly replaced the forward section (2pc) for $40 I think, never felt a difference from the first one to the replacement.

Next was 15 foot Spey rod from Sage. I had laid in on a driftwood log by the river and my then-young son was roughhousing with the dog. The dog got tangled in the flyline and dragged the rod down a bouldery bank. Sage didn't even charge shipping costs for some reason, and the replacement work is flawless.

2 additional rods that I provide for new learners ended up making visits to Bainbridge Island (Sage) for new top sections last season. They charged me $20 per rod, and the work is exceptional. On one rod they even replaced the old worn cork (a 12 year old RPL).

The way I see it, this is another reason to consider manufacturers who offer solid warranty service. The first reason to go with companies like Sage (name your favorite Co. here) is performance.

I did notice that the ferrule joint is tighter on one of the rods than it was before I broke the tip.

Good luck with your rod re-work, let us know how it turns out.

ronl

06-27-2000, 10:11 AM

Greg- Last year I broke the mid section of my 3pc 10wt backwater at the top ferrule while fighting a fish. After calling Diamondback and getting referred to Cortland for their service number(for the repair)I sent the rod in and they replaced just the mid section. I noticed a slight difference in the casting of the rod(flexed alittle deeper into the butt) but the rod performs fine. It took about 2 weeks to get the rod back from the time I sent it in. ronl

grego

06-27-2000, 11:55 AM

Thanks guys. I just shipped the rod out via UPS. Cortland gave me a return authorization number when I talked to them at the toll free customer service line (thanks John). They require a $5 check for return shipping & say it should not take long to get it back (we'll see).